The Salvation Army Hiring Overview For 2023

Is The Salvation Army on the Ban the Box list?

Ban the Box is a list of companies that have committed to removing the checkbox from their application asking if you’ve been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony.

The Fair Chance Business Pledge is a pledge made by employers to focus on your skills and talents, rather than your criminal history.

Unfortunately, The Salvation Army doesn’t participate in either of these programs and they do ask about convictions on their application. It also states that answering “yes” to a conviction won’t disqualify you. That’s okay, though, because we know they’ll hire ex-offenders.

Does The Salvation Army have special programs for hiring felons?

Yes! They try to help former offenders as much as possible in their rehabilitation programs. Contact your local Salvation Army for more information.

What are the odds someone with a felony will get hired?

Relaunch Pad gives your odds of getting hired at The Salvation Army with a felony as average. Reports show they’ll hire felons even though they aren’t on the Ban the Box list and ask about convictions on their application.

What are some entry-level jobs?

The main entry-level job at The Salvation Army is a store production associate. In this position, you’ll be responsible for stocking merchandise and assisting customers with their transactions.

This is a good place to start! It’ll give you a chance to learn your way around The Salvation Army and the many things they do, putting you in line for advancement and job opportunities down the road.

Tips to get hired here with a felony

You’ve decided a job at The Salvation Army is the right job for you. That’s great! Let us give you some tips so you can get hired with a felony.

Their application process is pretty straight forward: You simply fill out your personal information along with your employment history. Be ready to answer questions regarding whether or not you’ve been let go or fired from a position and why, as well as criminal background questions. You’ll also need to acknowledge that there will be a background check run and a drug test before hiring.

The Salvation Army needs to see your resume, too. If you haven’t given it a good once-over in a while, now’s the time!

Focus in on customer service, retail and warehouse experience. If you’ve worked in a clothing store before, you know how to do a lot of the work a cashier and stocker would do. The same goes for if you have any experience in a warehouse. These are direct cross-over skills the Salvation Army wants to see!

Since they’re an open-minded company, you shouldn’t feel shy about including your work history from prison or jail. They’ll like to see you were actively improving yourself and were able to hold a job!

The other thing you need to prepare for is the interview. Your resume provides the bare bones about your skill set and got you in the door. Now you have to make your resume come alive.

Here are our top tips for interviews:

1. Share stories that demonstrate the qualities you listed in your resume that the company is looking for in this position.
2. Arrive 10-15 minutes early wearing business casual attire. Hide any tattoos and take out your piercings. This will give you a chance to make a great first impression.
3. Answer all the questions positively. The Salvation Army deals with all kinds of people from different walks of life in their own situations, they need to know you can handle yourself under pressure.
4. Be upfront about your past. They are a felon-friendly organization, but you need to be honest about your background. Take the time to share how you’ve bettered yourself.

It states on their application that a background check will be performed during the hiring phase.

Here’s what you need to know about background checks:

Not all background checks are the same, it turns out. What comes up depends on what state you live in. For example, these states only go back seven years:

• California
• Colorado*
• Kansas*
• Maryland*
• Massachusetts
• Montana
• Nevada
• New Hampshire*
• New York*
• Texas*
• Washington*

(* sometimes certain pay or salary bracket positions require one.)

And these eight states won’t look at anything where you were found not guilty:

• Alaska
• California
• Hawaii
• Indiana (limited check)
• Kentucky
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• New York

However, be aware that there are still some states that’ll consider your entire record, including any not guilty verdicts. These are those states:

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Connecticut
• DC
• Delaware
• Florida
• Idaho
• Indiana (extensive check)
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• New Jersey
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Company ratings

Glassdoor.com gives The Salvation Army 3.3 out of 5 stars. Reviewers were pretty consistent in their feedback. The majority of the past and present employees enjoy helping others while the biggest drawback seems to be the slow response to needs by the upper management.

What felonies The Salvation Army will not hire

They didn’t say! All we could discover were charges that would provide further barriers to entry for you, but no straight-out nos. See the next section for more.

What felony convictions might have a hard time getting hired here?

Does The Salvation Army hire felons? It looks like they do, but certain felonies may hurt your chances. If your record includes theft, this might be a problem since you’ll be working with merchandise. Violent crimes could also prove difficult because you’ll be working with all different walks of life.

However, if you’re honest about your past, you have a decent shot of being hired at the Salvation Army with a felony. They’re really conscious about helping their community!

Does The Salvation Army hire sex offenders?

We don’t know. They didn’t tell us, and there’s no information about this online.

Does The Salvation Army drug test?

Yes, it’s stated on their application that a drug test will be administered before an offer of employment is made.

Have you applied for a job or worked here? Share your experiences!

Here’s your chance to help out your community. Were you able to use the information in this article to get a job at the Salvation Army with a felony? Tell us the details below. Your tips go a long way!